True or False Chess is a Draw with Best Play from Both Sides

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lfPatriotGames
Account_Suspended wrote:
lfPatriotGames wrote:

 

My guess is that if one side has a forced win, it's probably going to be an incredibly small number of ways to do it, compared to overall possibility of games. So "virtually" still leaves room for many, many quadrillions of games and possibilities where one side could force a win. 

my sentiment as well and i contend this is the best we can say right now. anything more and it's assuming.

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Note the topic has the title "true or false.....?" It's not "say what you think is the case and I will ram into your skull it is true".

I think the actual title of the topic has been forgotten by some people. But if it has to be one of those two, true or false, I guess it would have to be false. Because if it's true it would have to be proven and nobody can do that. 

I know I couldn't prove it to be true or false. Neither one. The best I can figure out is that there is a lot of evidence it's a draw, and a lot of evidence it's a forced win for white. And almost no evidence it's a forced win for black. 

zborg

True or False -- Can a Win be forced (by either side) without an error by the other player?  Very Simple.

Methinks Ponz111 may have (effectively) answered that question (above), about 2000 posts earlier.

End of Story?  Until quantum computers are invented, and maybe, (just maybe), a definitive answer/solution might then be provided?

How many (silly) ways can you skin this cat ??  Has chess be solved?  NO.  Is the solution to chess most likely a draw?  Probably.  End of Story?  It Should Be. 

Chess players are SOOOOOOOO eccentric.  Don't You Think?  grin.png

ponz111

True or false is an opinion.  Am opinion is almost never based on 100%  certainty .  Opinion is usually based on a number of factors such as your own experience, your knowledge of the subject or related subjects,  history, ability to use logic, ability to gather evidence, ability to look at all the evidence, and in this particular case to present the ton of evidence which already existed.    

And now he have new very compelling evidence. tongue.pngtongue.pngtongue.png

I am not 100% certain of ANYTHING. But I am 99.999% sure that chess is a draw when neither side makes an error which would change the natural result of the game.

Few people have seen the new evidence.

 

 

Epic_player03

no draw, plus everyone will eventually make a mistake, name someone who dosent make any mistakes

Epic_player03

THen what is

JimDiesel22

It's a mathematical question that has nothing to do with humans. As white, can you win the game if you play perfectly?

Many board games have been solved, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solved_game, using a variety of methods, but chess along with go, othello, and others haven't.

JimDiesel22
Optimissed wrote:
JimDiesel22 wrote:
Optimissed wrote:

I think this is just a perception and clarity thing. Either you get it or you don't, a bit like hitting the bullseye with a dart.

I think that just about sums up how this forum thinks.

But there are people agreeing with you, too ...

"about" "sums"

ponz111

Optimissed   I am quite surprised at your statement "But it has to be one of the two, true or false. I guess it would have to be false. Because if it's true it would have to be proven  and nobody can do that"

Wow! There are and have been many things that are true and have not been proven. The center of the earth is very hot--but it has not been proven. The game of checkers has always been a draw with best play but only in the last few years has this been proven. [of course the strongest players were saying checkers was a draw decades before it was actually proven.]It was true that the earth was not flat--centuries before this was proven.  The earth revolves around the sun has been true for a very long time and hundreds of years before it was proven.  Something being true does not depend on it being proven to be true.

Having said all of that, in my opinion the ton of evidence is in my opinion proof that chess is a draw.

lfPatriotGames
Optimissed wrote:

I think the actual title of the topic has been forgotten by some people. But if it has to be one of those two, true or false, I guess it would have to be false. Because if it's true it would have to be proven and nobody can do that. >>

I think it is mathematically provable but it's an immense task and what would a first rate mathematician gain from doing it, PatriotG? I mean, that they couldn't gain much more from NOT doing it. It's only chess.

I agree. But until someone proves it's true, we would have to say it's false. If the answer has to be one of the two. The real answer is probably we'll never know in our lifetime. Because both sides are so similar, I can see how it could be a draw. But there is a lot of evidence that white can force a win. There has to be some reason at higher levels white wins more. So until proven otherwise, I'll have to assume it's a forced win for white.

lfPatriotGames
ponz111 wrote:

Optimissed   I am quite surprised at your statement "But it has to be one of the two, true or false. I guess it would have to be false. Because if it's true it would have to be proven  and nobody can do that"

Wow! There are and have been many things that are true and have not been proven. The center of the earth is very hot--but it has not been proven. The game of checkers has always been a draw with best play but only in the last few years has this been proven. [of course the strongest players were saying checkers was a draw decades before it was actually proven.]It was true that the earth was not flat--centuries before this was proven.  The earth revolves around the sun has been true for a very long time and hundreds of years before it was proven.  Something being true does not depend on it being proven to be true.

Having said all of that, in my opinion the ton of evidence is in my opinion proof that chess is a draw.

All good points. So you would agree that if it's true chess is a forced win for white, it doesn't have to be proven to be true. We can just accept that it's true. Right?

Something being true does not depend on it being proven to be true.

JamesLeung

I don't think there's a way of the term "best play" been proven right, if someone loses they didn't had "best play" but still it's hard to say what does is it exactly, sometimes the strongest GMs, the strongest engine loses games, so no one can do "best play" all the time is what I would suggest.

ponz111

JamesLeung   Of course it is difficult and a little rare for a whole game to be played with no error on either side which would change the course of the game. If someone loses it means for sure that he made a error/mistake. 

ponz111

PATRIOT  I will agree with you that if chess is a forced win for White, it doesn't have to be proven to be true.  YOU can just accept it to be true if you wish.  For me I would look at the evidence and then make up my mind?

Something being true does not depend on it being proven to be true, Example:  I won more than 4000 chess games in a row without a draw or a loss. I know it to be true but I cannot prove it is true. 

Ziryab
ponz111 wrote:

Optimissed   I am quite surprised at your statement "But it has to be one of the two, true or false. I guess it would have to be false. Because if it's true it would have to be proven  and nobody can do that"

Wow! There are and have been many things that are true and have not been proven. The center of the earth is very hot--but it has not been proven. The game of checkers has always been a draw with best play but only in the last few years has this been proven. [of course the strongest players were saying checkers was a draw decades before it was actually proven.]It was true that the earth was not flat--centuries before this was proven.  The earth revolves around the sun has been true for a very long time and hundreds of years before it was proven.  Something being true does not depend on it being proven to be true.

Having said all of that, in my opinion the ton of evidence is in my opinion proof that chess is a draw.

 

Well said.

However, folks want mathematical proof, as in the evidence from 32 piece tablebases. But, at least, they do not need the solution for every one of the 10^43 theoretical positions, but only one. The standard starting position.

 

I am convinced that chess is clearly a win for White in at least 300 of the Chess 960 starting positions. But, alas, my experience is limited, so this hypothesis is grounded in far less than the hundreds of years experience of thousands of chess players who have convinced themselves through lifetimes of practical play and theoretical study that decisive games only occur following errors.

zborg

Amen!  Now let's all go pub crawling and drown our sorry in brew.  grin.png   

ponz111

Ziryab      We probably will never have a 32table base proving the outcome of chess?  Some may want this but it very probably will not happen.

We really, if we are open minded, do not have math proof  or other 100% proof that we are not part of a dream by a god or some other being.?  The question does not demand math proof--though math proof would be nice.

I, myself settle for what I think is a ton of evidence that chess is a drawn. The evidence gives me 99.999% confidence that chess is a draw.  I do not know of anyone else posting in this forum has looked at all the evidence  I have looked at and discovered over the years?

It is very unclear to me where Ziryab gets his idea that in Chess 960 what he says about starting positions in  that game?  But I am no expert on that chess variant and have no opinion. It is not so relevant to the chess I have played for decades. [but it is interesting]

 

  

 

 

 

Ziryab
ponz111 wrote:

 

It is very unclear to me where Ziryab gets his idea that in Chess 960 what he says about starting positions in  that game?  But I am no expert on that chess variant and have no opinion. It is not so relevant to the chess I have played for decades. [but it is interesting]

 

  

 

 

 

 

It's a hunch. Some positions are terrible to play.

I've played maybe two dozen 960 games ever. Most of the positions that I have had have been uninteresting, and several do not seem fair to the second player.

SouthWestRacingNews

Chess may be more like rock paper scissors, perhaps various styles having an unequal weight of probability of winning, yet be stronger against some few others - which themselves are quite powerful. 

Tactics:

A beats 17 styles

B beats 10 styles including A

C beats 5 styles, including A and B

D beats 20 styles

E beats only D

 

etc 

lfPatriotGames
Optimissed wrote:
lfPatriotGames wrote:
ponz111 wrote:

Optimissed   I am quite surprised at your statement "But it has to be one of the two, true or false. I guess it would have to be false. Because if it's true it would have to be proven  and nobody can do that"

Wow! There are and have been many things that are true and have not been proven. The center of the earth is very hot--but it has not been proven. The game of checkers has always been a draw with best play but only in the last few years has this been proven. [of course the strongest players were saying checkers was a draw decades before it was actually proven.]It was true that the earth was not flat--centuries before this was proven.  The earth revolves around the sun has been true for a very long time and hundreds of years before it was proven.  Something being true does not depend on it being proven to be true.

Having said all of that, in my opinion the ton of evidence is in my opinion proof that chess is a draw.

All good points. So you would agree that if it's true chess is a forced win for white, it doesn't have to be proven to be true. We can just accept that it's true. Right?

Something being true does not depend on it being proven to be true.

I didn't write that. It was someone else's statement to which I was replying. I generally use >> as quotation marks *because they're more visible*.

Not being American, I would very rarely use American figures of speech such as "I guess", unless I was literally guessing. I usually use "I think" or "I believe". I use "I know" very rarely.

Finally, since the passage is arguing against a draw and you should know that I think chess is a draw with best play, it could not have been me. I guess you should pay attention.

I realize that. I think maybe Ponz didnt realize it though. Maybe he is just quite surprised at you quoting me. Maybe he thought you quoting me meant you agreed with me, I dont know. 

Anyway, I was responding to him, not you. Of course I know you think chess is a draw, but I was commenting on his opinion that he thinks something is true even if you cant prove it.

I'm not sure what you meant by paying attention. You quoted me, Ponz thought you quoting me meant they were your words, when obviously they were mine. I'm not that surprised Ponz could not follow that, he gets a little confused sometimes. But I am surprised you couldn't see I was responding to him, and his mistaken belief that those were your words. 

lfPatriotGames

Optimissed. thank you for editing your post. I see you took out the part where you responded to me.